God, come to my assistance.
 - Lord, make haste to help me.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
 -  as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia.


HYMN

Allluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
We Who Once Were Dead
Christ Jesus Lay In Death's Strong Bands
Ad Cenam Agni Providi

Or:


Let all things now living a song of thanksgiving
To God our creator triumphantly raise.
Who fashioned and made us, protected and stayed us,
Who guideth us on to the end of our days.
God's banners are o'er us, His light goes before us,
A pillar of fire shining forth in the night.
Till shadows have vanished and darkness is banished
As forward we travel from light into Light.

His law he enforces, the stars in their courses
And sun in his orbit obediently shine;
The hills and the mountains, the rivers and fountains,
The deeps of the ocean proclaim him divine.
We too should be voicing our love and rejoicing;
With glad adoration a song let us raise
Till all things now living unite in thanksgiving:
"To God in the highest, Hosanna and praise!"
Tune: The Ash Grove, traditional Welsh Melody; Text: Anonymous


PSALMODY

Antiphon 1: The Lord is my stronghold and my savior, alleluia.

Psalm 144
Prayer for victory and peace
Christ learned the art of warfare when he overcame the world, as he said, "I have overcome the world." (Saint Hilary)

                     I
Blessed be the Lord, my rock,
who trains my arms for battle,
who prepares my hands for war.

He is my love, my fortress;
he is my stronghold, my savior
my shield, my place of refuge.
He brings peoples under my rule.

Lord, what is man that you care for him,
mortal man, that your keep him in mind;
man, who is merely a breath
whose life fades like a passing shadow?

Lower your heavens and come down;
touch the mountains; wreathe them in smoke.
Flash your lightnings; rout the foe,
shoot your arrows and put them to flight.

Reach down from heaven and save me;
draw me out from the mighty waters,
from the hands of alien foes
whose mouths are filled with lies,
whose hands are raised in perjury. Glory...

Antiphon 1 The Lord is my stronghold and my savior, alleluia.


Antiphon 2 Thanks be to God who has given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ, alleluia.

                      II
To you, O God, will I sing a new song;
I will play on the ten-stringed harp
to you who give kings their victory,
who set David your servant free.

You set him free from the evil sword;
you rescued him from alien foes
whose mouths were filled with lies,
whose hands were raised in perjury.

Let our sons then flourish like saplings
grown tall and strong from their youth,
our daughters graceful as columns,
adorned as though for a palace.

Let our barns be filled to overflowing
with crops of every kind;
our sheep increasing by thousands,
myriads of sheep in our fields,
our cattle heavy with young,

no ruined wall, no exile,
no sound of weeping in our streets.
Happy the people with such blessings;
happy the people whose God is the Lord. Glory...

Psalm Prayer:Lord, God of strength, You gave your Son victory over death. Direct Your Church's fight against evil in the world. Clothe us with the weapons of light and unite us under one banner of love, that we may receive our eternal reward after the battle of earthly life.

Antiphon 2 Thanks be to God who has given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ, alleluia.


Antiphon 3 Christ yesterday and today; he is the same for ever, alleluia.

Canticle  -  Revelation 11:17-18; 12:10b-12a
The judgment of God

We praise you, the Lord God Almighty,
Who is and who was.
You have assumed your great power,
You have begun your reign.

The nations have raged in anger,
But then came your day of wrath
And the moment to judge the dead:
The time to reward your servants the prophets
And the holy ones who revere you,
The great and the small alike.

Now have salvation and power come,
The reign of our God and the authority
Of his Anointed One,
For the accuser of our brothers is cast out,
Who night and day accused them before God.

They defeated him by the blood of the Lamb
And by the word of their testimony;
Love for life did not deter them from death.
So rejoice, you heavens,
And you that dwell therein! Glory...

Antiphon 3 Christ yesterday and today; he is the same for ever, alleluia.


READING           1 Peter 3:18-22
Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous, that he might lead you to God. Put to death in the flesh, he was brought to life in the spirit. In it he also went to preach to the spirits in prison, who had once been disobedient while God patiently waited in the days of Noah during the building of the ark, in which a few persons, eight in all, were saved through water. This prefigured baptism, which saves you now. It is not a removal of dirt from the body but an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to him.


RESPONSORY
The disciples rejoiced, alleluia, alleluia.
 - The disciples rejoiced, alleluia, alleluia.
When they saw the risen Lord,
 - alleluia, alleluia.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit
 - The disciples rejoiced, alleluia, alleluia.


MAGNIFICAT (Canticle of Mary)
Antiphon: I am the shepherd of my sheep. I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly, alleluia.


INTERCESSIONS
The Father has established in Christ the foundation of all our hope and the principle of our resurrection. Let us rejoice in Christ, and cry out to him, saying:

               King of glory, hear our prayer.

Lord Jesus, through your resurrection you entered the sanctuary of heaven to offer the blood of your own sacrifice;
 - lead us with you into the glory of the Father.

Through your resurrection you confirmed the faith of your disciples and sent them out into the world;
 - make all bishops and priests faithful preachers of the Gospel.

Through your resurrection you became our peace and reconciliation;      
 - unite the baptized in perfect communion of faith and love.

Through your resurrection the crippled man was healed at the gate of the temple;
 - look on the sick and reveal in them the power of your glory.

You became the firstborn from the dead, the firstfruits of the resurrection;
 - grant to the dead who hoped in you a share in your glory.


Our Father...


COLLECT
O God, who restore human nature
to yet greater dignity than at its beginnings,
look upon the amazing mystery of your loving kindness,
and in those you have chosen to make new
through the wonder of rebirth
may you preserve the gifts
of your enduring grace and blessing.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.


May the Lord bless us, protect us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life. Amen.